151AND NOW let me remind you [since it seems to have escaped you], brethren, of the Gospel (the glad tidings of salvation) which I proclaimed to you, which you welcomed and accepted and upon which your faith rests,2And by which you are saved, if you hold fast and keep firmly what I preached to you, unless you believed at first without effect and all for nothing.3For I passed on to you first of all what I also had received, that Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for our sins in accordance with [what] the Scriptures [foretold], 4That He was buried, that He arose on the third day as the Scriptures foretold, 5And [also] that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve.6Then later He showed Himself to more than five hundred brethren at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep [in death].7Afterward He was seen by James, then by all the apostles (the special messengers),8And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one prematurely and born dead [[N]Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.no better than an unperfected fetus among living men].9For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, who am not fit or deserving to be called an apostle, because I once wronged and pursued and molested the church of God [oppressing it with cruelty and violence].10But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them [the apostles], though it was not really I, but the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me.11So, whether then it was I or they, this is what we preach and this is what you believed [what you adhered to, trusted in, and relied on].12But now if Christ (the Messiah) is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen;14And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded).15We are even discovered to be misrepresenting God, for we testified of Him that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise in case it is true that the dead are not raised.16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised;17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is mere delusion [futile, fruitless], and you are still in your sins [under the control and penalty of sin];18And further, those who have died in [[O]Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.spiritual fellowship and union with] Christ have perished (are lost)!19If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hope only in this life and that is all, then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.20But the fact is that Christ (the Messiah) has been raised from the dead, and He became the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep [in death].21For since [it was] through a man that death [came into the world, it is] also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead [has come].22For just as [because of their [P]Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown, A Commentary.union of nature] in Adam all people die, so also [by virtue of their [Q]Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown, A Commentary.union of nature] shall all in Christ be made alive.23But each in his own rank and turn: Christ (the Messiah) [is] the firstfruits, then those who are Christ’s [own will be resurrected] at His coming.24After that comes the end (the completion), when He delivers over the kingdom to God the Father after rendering inoperative and abolishing every [other] rule and every authority and power.25For [Christ] must be King and reign until He has put all [His] enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy to be subdued and abolished is death.27For He [the Father] has put all things in subjection under His [Christ’s] feet. But when it says, All things are put in subjection [under Him], it is evident that He [Himself] is excepted Who does the subjecting of all things to Him. 28However, when everything is subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also subject Himself to [the Father] Who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all [be everything to everyone, supreme, the indwelling and controlling factor of life].29Otherwise, what do people mean by being [themselves] baptized in behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?30[For that matter], why do I live [dangerously as I do, running such risks that I am] in peril every hour?31[I assure you] by the pride which I have in you in [your [R]Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.fellowship and union with] Christ Jesus our Lord, that I die daily [I face death every day and die to self].32What do I gain if, merely from the human point of view, I fought with [wild] beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised [at all], let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will be dead. 33Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.34Awake [[S]Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.from your drunken stupor and return] to sober sense and your right minds, and sin no more. For some of you have not the knowledge of God [you are utterly and willfully and disgracefully ignorant, and continue to be so, lacking the sense of God’s presence and all true knowledge of Him]. I say this to your shame.35But someone will say, How can the dead be raised? With what [kind of] body will they come forth?36You foolish man! Every time you plant seed, you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up, and growing] unless it dies first.37Nor is the seed you sow then the body which it is going to have [later], but it is a naked kernel, perhaps of wheat or some of the rest of the grains.38But God gives to it the body that He plans and sees fit, and to each kind of seed a body of its own. 39For all flesh is not the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for beasts, another for birds, and another for fish.40There are heavenly bodies (sun, moon, and stars) and there are earthly bodies (men, animals, and plants), but the beauty and glory of the heavenly bodies is of one kind, while the beauty and glory of earthly bodies is a different kind.41The sun is glorious in one way, the moon is glorious in another way, and the stars are glorious in their own [distinctive] way; for one star differs from and surpasses another in its beauty and brilliance.42So it is with the resurrection of the dead. [The body] that is sown is perishable and decays, but [the body] that is resurrected is imperishable (immune to decay, immortal). 43It is sown in dishonor and humiliation; it is raised in honor and glory. It is sown in infirmity and weakness; it is resurrected in strength and endued with power.44It is sown a natural (physical) body; it is raised a supernatural (a spiritual) body. [As surely as] there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.45Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit [restoring the dead to life]. 46But it is not the spiritual life which came first, but the physical and then the spiritual.47The first man [was] from out of earth, made of dust (earthly-minded); the second Man [is] the Lord from out of heaven. 48Now those who are made of the dust are like him who was first made of the dust (earthly-minded); and as is [the Man] from heaven, so also [are those] who are of heaven (heavenly-minded).49And just as we have borne the image [of the man] of dust, so shall we and so[T]Many ancient manuscripts read “let us.”let us also bear the image [of the Man] of heaven.50But I tell you this, brethren, flesh and blood cannot [become partakers of eternal salvation and] inherit or share in the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable (that which is decaying) inherit or share in the imperishable (the immortal).51Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed (transformed)52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed).53For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us, this nature that is capable of dying] must put on immortality (freedom from death).54And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished [U]Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.forever) in and unto victory. 55O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? 56Now sin is the sting of death, and sin exercises its power [V]Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.[upon the soul] through [W]Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.[the abuse of] the Law.57But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose].